"The practical consequence […is…] for the first time, a way for one Internet user to transfer a unique piece of digital property to another Internet user, such that the transfer is guaranteed to be safe and secure, everyone knows that the transfer has taken place, and nobody can challenge the legitimacy of the transfer. The consequences of this breakthrough are hard to overstate."
-- Marc Andreessen
事實上，這是第一次，一個互聯網用戶向另一個互聯網用戶發送具有獨特數字屬性的編碼塊的方式。這種轉移的安全性是可以保障的，所有人都知道轉移已經發生，并且沒有人可以挑戰這種轉移的合法性。這一技術的突破帶來的影響無法輕視。
—— 馬克·安德森
From a cruising altitude, a blockchain might not look that different from things you're familiar with, say Wikipedia.
維基百科上說，從普遍上來看，區塊鏈可能和你所熟悉的東西沒有什么不同。
With a blockchain, many people can write entries into a record of information, and a community of users can control how the record of information is amended and updated. Likewise, Wikipedia entries are not the product of a single publisher. No one person controls the information.
通過區塊鏈技術，人們可以往信息記錄中添加一些條目，或者社區的使用者們可以用來控制信息記錄的添加和更新。就像維基百科的條目并不是一個人的作品，沒有人能夠控制這些信息。
Descending to ground level, however, the differences that make blockchain technology unique become more clear. While both run on distributed networks (the internet), Wikipedia is built into the World Wide Web (WWW) using a client-server network model.
然而，從基本層面上來講會使得區塊鏈技術獨特的差異性更清晰。雖然兩者都在分布式網絡（Internet）上運行，但是維基百科是建立在使用客戶端-服務器網絡模型的萬維網。
A user (client) with permissions associated with its account is able to change Wikipedia entries stored on a centralized server.
與帳戶相關聯的用戶（客戶端）能夠更改存儲在集中式服務器上的維基百科條目。
Whenever a user accesses the Wikipedia page, they will get the updated version of the 'master copy' of the Wikipedia entry. Control of the database remains with Wikipedia administrators allowing for access and permissions to be maintained by a central authority.
每當用戶訪問維基百科頁面時，他們將獲得維基百科條目的“主副本”的更新版本。數據庫的控制仍然與維基百科管理員有關，允許訪問和權限由中央主管機構維護。
Wikipedia's digital backbone is similar to the highly protected and centralized databases that governments or banks or insurance companies keep today. Control of centralized databases rests with their owners, including the management of updates, access and protecting against cyber-threats.
維基百科類似于政府或銀行或保險公司保持高度保護和集中管理的數據庫。它們的所有者可以控制和管理集中式數據庫，包括更新、訪問和保護免受網絡威脅。
The distributed database created by blockchain technology has a fundamentally different digital backbone. This is also the most distinct and important feature of blockchain technology.
通過分布式數據庫技術創建出的區塊鏈有著本質上的。這也是區塊鏈技術最獨特和重要的特征。
Wikipedia's 'master copy' is edited on a server and all users see the new version. In the case of a blockchain, every node in the network is coming to the same conclusion, each updating the record independently, with the most popular record becoming the de-facto official record in lieu of there being a master copy.
在維基百科上的‘主副本’被修改后，所有用戶都會看到新版本。在區塊鏈下每一次獨立地更新記錄下，網絡中的每個節點都是得出了同樣的結論。通過將主流的記錄作為官方記錄的事實，而不是主副本的方式。
Transactions are broadcast, and every node is creating their own updated version of events.
交易被廣而告之，每個節點都在創建自己的事件更新版本。
It is this difference that makes blockchain technology so useful – It represents an innovation in information registration and distribution that eliminates the need for a trusted party to facilitate digital relationships.
正是這種差異導致了區塊鏈技術非常有用——它代表了一種在信息注冊和分布上的一種創新，并且在消除了虛擬關系之間的信任的必要性。
Yet, blockchain technology, for all its merits, is not a new technology.
然而，區塊鏈技術的所有優點并不是一種新技術。
Rather, it is a combination of proven technologies applied in a new way. It was the particular orchestration of three technologies (the Internet, private key cryptography and a protocol governing incentivization) that made bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto's idea so useful.
相反，它是一種通過新方法應用的成熟技術組合。這是三種技術的特定業務流程（互聯網、私鑰加密和協議管理獎勵）。比特幣的創造者中本聰的主意很有用。
The result is a system for digital interactions that does not need a trusted third party. The work of securing digital relationships is implicit — supplied by the elegant, simple, yet robust network architecture of blockchain technology itself.
數字化交互系統導致了它不再需要一個可信任的第三方。穩定數字化關系的工作被優雅、簡單而強大的網絡架構的blockchain技術本身所隱式提供。
Defining digital trust
*Trust is a risk judgement between different parties, and in the digital world, determining trust often boils down to proving identity (authentication) and proving permissions (authorization). *
信任是在多方之間的一種風險評估，在虛擬世界里，總的來說就是通過提供身份（認證）或者是權限（授權）來確認。
Put more simply, we want to know, 'Are you who you say you are?' and 'Should you be able to do what you are trying to do?'
簡而言之，我們想知道，“你是誰，你說你是誰？”還有“你應該做你想做的事嗎？”。
In the case of blockchain technology, private key cryptography provides a powerful ownership tool that fulfills authentication requirements. Possession of a private key is ownership. It also spares a person from having to share more personal information than they would need to for an exchange, leaving them exposed to hackers.
在區塊鏈技術的情況下，私鑰加密提供了一個有力的工具，滿足所有認證要求。持有私鑰就具有所有權。它也使人們不必為了交流而分享更多的個人信息，將他們自己暴露給黑客。
Authentication is not enough. Authorization – having enough money, broadcasting the correct transaction type, etc – needs a distributed, peer-to-peer network as a starting point. A distributed network reduces the risk of centralized corruption or failure.
認證是不夠的。授權需要一個分布式的對等網絡作為起點，來擁有足夠的資金和發布確切的交易類型。分布式網絡減少了集中式腐敗或失敗的風險。
*This distributed network must also be committed to the transaction network’s recordkeeping and security. Authorizing transactions is a result of the entire network applying the rules upon which it was designed (the blockchain’s protocol). *
這種分布式的網絡也必須致力于交易網絡的記錄和安全。授權交易的結果是整個網絡應用規則對它的設計（blockchain協議）。
*Authentication and authorization supplied in this way allow for interactions in the digital world without relying on (expensive) trust. Today, entrepreneurs in industries around the world have woken up to the implications of this development – unimagined, new and powerful digital relationshionships are possible. Blockchain technology is often described as the backbone for a transaction layer for the Internet, the foundation of the Internet of Value. *
以這種方式提供的身份驗證和授權允許在虛擬世界中進行交易，而不依賴于（昂貴的）信任。今天，在世界各地的行業的企業家已經認識到這一發展具有無法想象的新含義，新的功能強大的虛擬關系網絡的建立是可能的。區塊鏈技術經常被稱為互聯網交易層以及價值網絡基礎的核心。
In fact, the idea that cryptographic keys and shared ledgers can incentivize users to secure and formalize digital relationships has imaginations running wild. Everyone from governments to IT firms to banks is seeking to build this transaction layer.
事實上，加密密鑰和共享臺賬可以激發用戶保護和構建虛擬關系網絡的想法仍然處于想象。從政府到IT公司到銀行，每個人都在尋求構建這個交易層。
Authentication and authorization, vital to digital transactions, are established as a result of the configuration of blockchain technology.
建立于區塊鏈技術配置的認證和授權對于數字交易來說至關重要。
The idea can be applied to any need for a trustworthy system of record.
這個想法可以應用于任何一個需要值得可信賴的記錄系統。
Authored by Nolan Bauerle; images by Maria Kuznetsov
